PEACE IN PIECES?: US-Iran talks postponed amid Israel-Hezbollah tensions

[00:00:00]Now, the United States and Iran supposed to be kicking off 60 days of nuclear talks to further define the arrangement that would end this uh war. Vice President JD Vance was scheduled to fly to Geneva to oversee those negotiations, but that trip was delayed at the last minute. And officials say the talks were called off due to ramped up fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Uh but now the two sides have agreed to renew a ceasefire. Max Gordon is live from Dubai. Hi, Max.

[00:00:32]>> Hey, good morning. Well, this latest ceasefire kicked in just about an hour ago. A US official says it was brokered by Qatar, the United States, and with help from Iran. Now, it's important to note that this is not a retreat for Israel from these established security zones in southern Lebanon. And the IDF says that they have every right to defend themselves. And this comes on the heel of heightened fighting in southern Lebanon. Overnight, the IDF reported four soldiers were killed and dozens of Hezbollah fighters died. Lebanon reported 21 people were killed. This latest fighting follows an escalation in southern Lebanon after an Israeli air strike hit Beirut right before the signing of the deal between the US and Iran. Back and forth strikes have since continued with the White House sending a message that Israel needs to moderate its response. The deal with Iran dictates an end of fighting in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Moshaba Kamei released his first statement on the deal with the US, saying in part, "It was the American president who out of desperation used all kinds of leverage to bring this about." President Trump responding on Truth Social, saying, "We didn't meet out of out of desperation, Iran did.

[00:01:41]They are finished. We'll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not 10 cents."

[00:01:47]And now we're also learning new details about what's going on in the Strait of Hormuse. Iran is now requiring ships to register with the Iranian government and hinting that tolls might be put in place after the 60-day negotiation period.

[00:02:00]Back to you.

[00:02:01]>> Thank you, Max. And we want to bring in Shannon Bream uh to give us an update and a look ahead to the weekend because a ceasefire, as we know, they they can be fragile. Uh but also Israel saying like if four of our soldiers are going are killed in an attack, we're going to fight back.

[00:02:15]>> Yeah, you guys know how tenuous this whole thing is. And so there is a ceasefire allegedly in place, but Israel says this is on our border. We're going to maintain soldiers in what we call this safe zone and we will respond to threats as they come in. Now, how that impacts, you know, this domino effect of the talks, we've got Iranian officials now saying what was planned in Switzerland, as we know, it is postponed, but they say that there are plans in the works for meeting in the coming days. So that sounds like they want to get this back on track, but um this Israel could be or this weekend could be, you know, a very big uh conditional look ahead at what's going to come.

[00:02:53]>> Absolutely. Let's play this uh from Vice President Vance yesterday on the issue of Lebanon and the friction and the fighting obviously with Israel. Watch >> the Lebanon component. This is about regional peace, right? This is about regional peace and what that means is we expect Hezbollah is not going to be firing rockets and firing drones at the Israelis. And we also expect that the Israelis are not going to be going wild in Lebanon, right? Both sides have to honor their end of the deal. Now, as you guys know, sometimes these ceasefires are a little messy. The president, United States said this a couple of weeks ago that a ceasefire in that region of the world just means they're shooting a little bit less at each other than they were before.

[00:03:30]>> Yeah, I mean that's certainly true this morning, Shannon.

[00:03:32]>> Yeah, and that's definitely how that has felt in that particular region. So, we recognize Israel's right to defend itself and that it has threats on every border there essentially. So, that's part of it, but also you've heard the vice president and the president say, "Listen, Israel, when you're going to respond, think about proportionality and we're trying to get this deal done. So, can you cool it for a little bit?" You remember too yesterday the vice president had very pointed messages to many people within Israel saying, "You don't have a better friend in the world.

[00:04:01]We provide you with defense, with aid.

[00:04:04]We're on your side." So for those elements within Israel who want to come after the Trump administration now there was very much sort of a brushback push coming from the vice president yesterday.

[00:04:14]>> Shannon let's switch gears a little bit because we still have these problems with immigration and the governor of Virginia Abigail Spanberger is getting hit by DHS for letting urging her not to release an illegal immigrant. And they said sanctuary Spanberger can't hide the fact that she has turned the Commonwealth into a safe haven for illegal alien crime. And this is what she said hitting back at ICE.

[00:04:38]>> They say your policies has made the Commonwealth a magnet for illegal alien crime. What's your response to the DHS and DOJ?

[00:04:46]>> Unfortunately, there have been so many circumstances where ICE has had a detainer order out on someone and they have not bothered to go out and get someone with a criminal history despite the fact that they have a detainer order. Um, so it is um it is really detrimental and unfortunate that so frequently um ICE is choosing not to actually take action on those legal orders.

[00:05:09]>> I'm curious how DHS would respond to that. I mean, is that true that ICE is like not doing its job?

[00:05:16]>> Well, ISIS said, "Listen, we have detainers on a lot of people that you guys have let out in Virginia without letting us come get them." And unfortunately, we have all covered the cases in Virginia recently of people who were killed. The allegations being that the suspects are from outside this country. Some of them had ICE detainers on them that were not honored. I mean, there's one of these cases involving an illegal immigrant who is a suspect in the in the death of Stephanie Mentor who was stabbed to death at a bus stop. We talked to her mom. In fact, I was sitting in Dana for you a few weeks ago on the show, your show in which the mom talked about the absolute devastation and grief over something that she felt like could have been totally avoidable.

[00:05:54]So, Virginia has a lot to clean up with.

[00:05:57]We, you know, when it comes to respect, a lot of these high-profile crimes involving people in the US, not legally, who are the suspects.

[00:06:04]>> Shannon, what can we look forward to? It sounds like it's going to be a busy weekend for you and uh we can't wait for Fox News Sunday. So, what what can we look forward to?

[00:06:12]>> Yes. So, we're going to cover all of the back and forth with Iran and where we are in that process, but we're also going live from the US Supreme Court this weekend because all the big decisions are due within the next week.

[00:06:22]So, we're going to break down what we're waiting on birthright citizenship. Uh how many days past election day you can count ballots, all those decisions.

[00:06:28]We'll have Senator Mike Lee, who is a former Scotas clerk himself, and also Democrat Congressman Roana, who says it's time to pack the Supreme Court. So, news of the day and all your legal stuff, too.

[00:06:39]>> All right, Shannon Bream, thanks so much. See you soon. Have a great weekend, guys.

[00:06:44]>> Da Martha, thank you so much. Peace talks on hold is where we begin today.

[00:06:48]The White House confirms a new round of US Iran negotiation scheduled to take place in Switzerland today has been postponed. The delay comes as Israeli forces and Iranbacked militants agree to renew a ceasefire after a fresh round of fighting overnight. But a senior Israeli source told Fox, "If its forces are attacked, it will respond." I'm John Robertson for Harris and this is the Falner focus for this Friday morning.

[00:07:12]Israel hit more than a 100 Hezbollah linked targets including command centers and launch positions. The IDF confirmed before the attacks that four of its soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon. That's what sparked the outrage in Israel. This map shows the security area the IDF is trying to enforce to protect its border communities. You can see where Israeli forces advance the security zone line, IDF strikes, and where Hezbollah reportedly attacked. The Institute for the Study of War posting with this take. Iran's threats to collapse the agreement unless Israel ceases operations and withdraws from Lebanon likely reflect a deliberate effort to compel the United States to pressure Israel to end operations. Iran has surely observed reports in Western media that President Donald Trump prioritizes preserving the deal and has pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to limit military operations in Lebanon. Here's Vice President JD Vance yesterday responding to critics of the Iran deal.

[00:08:12]>> They certainly recognize that the United States has great leverage. Will that ultimately lead to a change in behavior?

[00:08:17]I don't know. Uh, you know, I've seen skeptics of the deal. People say the Iranians will never change their behavior. Well, maybe that's true. And if so, they don't get any of the benefits of the bargain, but isn't it worth trying?

[00:08:29]>> We are covering this from all the angles. Foreign policy expert and retired Navy Captain Brent Sadler will join us in moments, but first to Lucas Tomlinson with the latest from 1600 Pennsylvania. Lucas, >> good morning. John, President Trump with some harsh words this morning to critics of [snorts] this memorandum of understanding who compare it to the Obama nuclear deal. Trump saying his style of negotiation is with 13,000 air strikes and a monthsl long naval blockade and also taking a true social to post the following. John the president writing quote the war has diminished Iran. It doesn't any longer have an air force and navy anti-aircraft equipment radar or practically anything else. And yet the Democrats say that Iran is better off now than it was 4 months ago. Can you imagine getting away with that? How stupid can some people be? President DJT. It rhymes. Overnight, Hezbollah launched an attack on northern Israel, as you mentioned, John, killing four Israeli soldiers in violation of the ceasefire. Israel launched retalatory strikes, prompting Iran to cancel its trip to Switzerland to meet Vice President JD Vance to begin those negotiations now that the 60-day clock has started. Recall Lebanon was included in the memorandum signed by President Trump at Versailles. Vice President Vance acknowledged maintaining this ceasefire be very challenging.

[00:09:43]We expect Hezbollah is not going to be firing rockets and firing drones at the Israelis. And we also expect that the Israelis are not going to be going wild in Lebanon, right? Both sides have to honor their end of the deal. Now, as you guys know, sometimes these ceasefires are a little messy. The president, United States said this a couple of weeks ago that a ceasefire in that region of the world just means they're shooting a little bit less at each other than they were before.

[00:10:07]Now, in a sign of potential collateral damage from the G7, John, Italy's prime minister appearing irked on social media after President Trump reportedly told an Italian news outlet she was begging him for a photo and a one-on-one meeting at the G7. John, >> yeah, that relationship hit the skins pretty quickly. Lucas Tomlinson for us at the White House. Lucas, thank you.

[00:10:31]Well, the title of a Wall Street Journal editorial board piece reads, quote, "What Iran gets from its US deal, even if it gives nothing." It goes on to say, quote, "The memorandum of understanding gives Iran plenty before securing commitments of substance on the nuclear program, let alone on missiles or proxies. That's US leverage given up before it's needed most." Brent Sadler is a retired Navy captain, former Pentagon official, and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. I was really surprised to see that Iran called off the first day of negotiations. Brett, how about you?

[00:11:02]>> Well, thanks for having me on and and I think we should expect that it's not going to be a straight line or a smooth path in executing thisou. And clearly the Iranians are going to now try and test the administration both with things like this trick right now of not showing up into Switzerland despite saying they would. uh and also to try to kind of test the bounds on what they can get away with from US pressure on the Israelis in Lebanon, especially when a response from the Israelis against an attack by Hezbollah is balanced and warranted.

[00:11:32]>> You know, I I saw JD Vance at the at the briefing yesterday and he was asked about these so-called gentleman's agreements that aren't written down between the United States and and Iran.

[00:11:42]And I'm reminded of that old Wilson song, The Snake, where the woman takes in the snake because it's cold. that is freezing and eventually the snake ends up biting and killing her. I'm thinking how is this any different from that?

[00:11:55]>> Well, yes, there's lots of analogies as and the duplicity of the Iranians in this negotiation. The key thing is the United States maintains significant leverage and it's also I think enshrined inside the the letter of theou. The key thing is the execution is using that leverage. And so I think the vice president's response on the issue of Israel and Hezbollah and Iranians trying to pressure is warranted and stressed that you know measured response by the Israeli is expected. And certainly Hezbollah has not lived up to its obligations decades now to disarm and to be a normal power. And clearly the Iranians need to be called to the mat to say they need to stop supporting these organizations. They need to stop funneling weapons to them. not only just to Hezbollah but also to the Houthis and their proxies in Iraq. So the president is having a back and forth uh over social media with the supreme leader uh the ayatel the president posting this morning on true social quote we didn't meet out of desperation Iran did they are finished we'll play out the 60 days they get no money not 10 cents the president were reacting to a statement put out under the name of the supreme leader uh which said quote as you have heard a memorandum of understanding was signed between the presidents of Iran and the United States on the way to reaching this stage the officials made many efforts out of compassion and goodwill. And of course, it was the president of the United States who out of desperation used all kinds of levers for this purpose. [sighs] How do you negotiate with people like this?

[00:13:24]>> Uh you ignore that and you basically just respond to what is in Americans best interest and as necessary, you use a little of military compellence uh to make sure that they move in the right direction. So if the Iranians try to mix those words with actions that are contrary to theou or attack shipping in the straight hormuz I think a hammer much more significant one in the past is is warranted that perhaps that third day of strikes that the president put on on hold.

[00:13:52]>> Uh so the reason that Iran shockingly pulled out of the first day of peace talks in in Switzerland today was because of renewed uh fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Ford IDF soldiers were killed. Um, Vice President Advance issued this warning to Israel yesterday.

[00:14:08]Listen here.

[00:14:10]>> Donald J. Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time. And he happens to be the head of state of the world's superpower. If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world.

[00:14:33]So that was a warning to Israel to say, you know, go with Donald Trump on this deal. Don't don't pursue your own agenda. But Israel is saying, look, if we get attacked by Hezbollah, we're going to go back after them. Now, Hezbollah and Israel have this morning initiated or at least renewed a ceasefire. [sighs] But the fact that Lebanon's even a part of this irks a lot of people.

[00:14:53]No, I think that's there's a risk in this allowing the Iranians to conflate the the conflict resolution, the negotiations with the US to include Lebanon and Hezbollah. But there's also an opportunity there and that's where the administration I think it could seize this and that is press the Iranians for good behavior from the Houthis as well as their proxies in Iraq and Hamas to as well as Hezbollah to honor obligations and that Iran no longer armed them. But I think a responsible respon, you know, military retaliation by the IDF against Hezbollah if they're attacked is is warranted and nothing to be indicated that the administration's not supporting that.

[00:15:32]But I think the Iranians need to get the message that they keep pressing on this then they're going to be I think uh making yet another strategic miscalculation.

[00:15:42]>> All right, Brad, good to get your thoughts on this this morning.

[00:15:44]Appreciate it.

[00:15:46]>> Thank you. We've seen skeptics of the deal. People say the Iranians will never change their behavior. Well, maybe that's true. And if so, they don't get any of the benefits of the bargain, but isn't it worth trying, so yes, the the deal started yesterday. We're going to start the 60 clock today. All right. The vice president yesterday confirming the 60-day period of negotiations with Iran has begun to lock in a final deal. But not everyone is in favor of starting one. By the way, it hasn't started. uh that includes the supreme leader of Iran who issued this statement saying quote I as a matter of principle held a different view however out of the commitment that esteemed president his president by the way as the head of the supreme national security council gave to me on his own behalf and on the behalf of the other members regarding the safeguarding of the rights of the Iranian nation and the resistance front and his explicit acceptance of that responsibility I granted my permission here to discuss this and more retired fourstar general Fox News senior strategic analyst chairman of the instit to study of war. General Jack Keane.

[00:16:46]General, why the shift from the president from military means to economic means?

[00:16:53]>> Well, first of all, I mean, the president is the first of the eight presidents to deal with Iran in a consequential way and leading to significant military operations. No one has ever confronted them in such a manner. So what what happened here is the reality is simply this. The president made a major priority shift based on advice you know from military objectives and they were defined as we all know taking away their offensive capability nuclear ballistic missiles drones support for proxies and so weaken the regime that eventually they would be vulnerable to takeover by their own people. That's kind of the path that that we were on. The fourth or fifth week we stopped that and and and the reality is it shifted to economic objectives and political objectives involving the midterm is taking the priority. his advisers landed the idea that the because of the persistence of the shutdown of the Straits of Amuse and that the oil and gas prices were going to continue to remain at the levels they were at, if not get higher if we return to military operations and the potential that if we return to military operations that the Iranians would be able to successfully retaliate against the Gulf States oil and gas infrastructure. The military leaders discount that because they think we could adequately defend it and also take away their most of their offensive capability to do that. But nonetheless, that idea landed and I think the risk of opening the straits of Amuse, which we tried and was shut down at 36th hour. What happened there? The Arabs put pressure on on the president saying, "One, we don't think it's going to succeed, and two, we fear they're going to come after the oil and gas infrastructure." They had no idea what our military capability would be to open the straits and also what our military capability would be to adequately defend the oil and gas infrastructure and take away Iran's offensive capability.

[00:19:00]Nonetheless, this idea landed in the sense of this could cause a worldwide depression and it discounted our military capability and that led to the shift in priorities that we see and it led to obviously the formulation of a deal and people get wrapped up in the deal and I understand why but you got to understand what the deal is that the only deal is really opening the straits of a moose that is the deal that's been that's been agreed to do and we remove our blockade to do that. We make other concessions to do that and then the rest of it in the document is a pathway leading to a final agreement after 2 months. We could have had a final agreement. I'm think we probably went into negoti negotiations thinking we were going to get a final agreement but we couldn't get that final agreement.

[00:19:52]But remember the idea was to take the pressure off of oil and gas >> open the straits of Amuse to do that and avoid military operations which could lead to further destruction of oil infrastructure.

[00:20:06]>> So general >> so that was accomplished the straits are going to be open and there are significant issues surrounding the deal uh just dealing with the opening of the straits. So, General, here's there there's many things in the 14 points I'm sure you could go over. We could go over for the whole hour, but the one thing that is an impossible situation is if they want Israel to stop going after Hezbollah when every time they go after him, it's in response to a Hezbollah attack. Four IDF soldiers were killed.

[00:20:31]Do you really expect Israel not to respond? And because of that, there's reason to believe that's why negotiations haven't started already.

[00:20:39]This seems it's never going to get traction if you want Israel to not hit back at a terrorist organization. Do you agree?

[00:20:47]>> Yeah. I mean, the the Iranians here certainly are trying to drive a wedge between the United States and Israel. To a certain degree, they've accomplished some of it. The Iranians cannot make a claim dealing with Lebanon. Lebanon is they they don't own Lebanon. Lebanon is an independent country. Obviously, they have an organization inside of it made up of Lebanese citizens called Hezbollah. It operates under the orders of Iran for sure.

[00:21:13]>> Yeah. and they've had significant political and obviously military influence in that country for years. But their principal reason for being there is one is to defend Iran against an attack by Israel and two to attack Israel and also is their major export of terrorism outside of the region. So they have interest there for sure, but we should tell them to stand down. You're not going to make a claim here. The reality is the major lesson from October the 7th that the Israelis have have learned and it's obvious looking at it is you cannot permit proxies on your border to have capacity to attack. That can never happen again. Hamas in particular and Hezbollah specifically here and that is what is happening here.

[00:22:00]Hezbollah was building up infrastructure in the south and then began to despite the ceasefire on April the 17th, a special ceasefire dealing with Lebanon.

[00:22:11]They conducted over 2,000 rockets and drone attacks in Israel, which are still going on. In the last 48 hours, they've been going on. That's the reality of it.

[00:22:20]You mentioned we have four IDF soldiers killed.

[00:22:23]>> Israel cannot permit this to stand. This this is about the sovereignty and existence of the state. Remember the objective of Iran and its proxies is to destroy the state of Israel. Not physically, >> not defeat its military. Make it such a volatile security situation that people don't want to live there. What is happening in northern Israel? All of the towns and villages have been evacuated.

[00:22:47]Kids aren't going to school. They moved into families. They're in hotels.

[00:22:51]They're not living in northern Israel.

[00:22:53]It Israel can't let that stand. I hear you.

[00:22:56]>> They have to fight back. General, if the cartels were lobbing rockets in into Texas from Mexico, we would not allow that even if Israel asked us to. And I think that I was a little surprised the vice president was going after Israel yesterday at the podium more than he was going after Iran. Uh, General, thanks so much. Uh, I look forward to your analysis throughout the weekend and we see if this see if this uh these 60-day peace talks will begin. Thanks, General.

[00:23:25]And some breaking news for you as we were just talking about with Congressman Turner. Um, Israel and Hezbollah exchanged a lot of fire last night. Um, and that helped lead to JD Vance, the vice president, delaying his trip to Switzerland to sign the memorandum of understanding with Iran. Now, within the commercial break, Hezblah and Israel apparently have agreed to renew their ceasefire after fighting. Now, in that fighting last night, Martha, four IDF soldiers were killed, and Israel was like, "We are not going to be able to stand for this. We have to be able to fight back. They love their people just as much as every other country loves their own people." And so, they're saying no. And perhaps Iran, who wants thisou apparently, has called down to their proxies and said, "Knock it off."

[00:24:13]Maybe, >> maybe. Or perhaps they don't want to move forward with a deal and they will continue to egg Hezbollah into further action and keep this going because it was the Iranian side that forced the ceasefire including Hezbollah into this memorandum. So they know that every time hostilities spark up between Hezbollah and and um Iran then you know and Israel, excuse me, then uh this is going to put a big wedge between things and I think as General Jack Keen said you know this drives a wedge between Israel and the United States which we saw very clearly JD Vance very strong words uh against Netanyahu yesterday. So um it seems that they are not dissuaded from continually throwing another firebomb into the middle of this negotiation process. But we'll see ceases far for now.

[00:25:09]>> So we will continue to follow this but let's see if this let's see if it will hold for the next hour Martha and then and then we will update you America.

[00:25:17]Thank you for that little breaking news.

[00:25:19]We'll get you to this as well.

[00:25:21]>> Brent Sadler is a retired Navy captain, former Pentagon official and senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. I was really surprised to see that Iran called off the first day of negotiations.

[00:25:31]Brent, how about you?

[00:25:34]>> Well, thanks for having me on and and I think we should expect that it's not going to be a straight line or a smooth path in executing thisou and clearly the Iranians are going to now try and test the administration both with things like this trick right now of not showing up into Switzerland despite saying they would uh and also to try to kind of test the bounds on what they can get away with from US pressure on the Israelis in Lebanon. especially when a response from the Israelis against an attack by Hezblah is balanced and warranted.

[00:26:03]>> You know, I I saw JD Vance at the at the briefing yesterday and he was asked about these so-called gentleman's agreements that aren't written down between the United States and and Iran, and I'm reminded of that old Wilson song, The Snake, where the woman takes in the snake because it's cold and it's freezing and eventually the snake ends up biting and killing her. I'm thinking, how is this any different from that?

[00:26:26]Well, yes, there's lots of analogies as and the duplicity of the Iranians in this negotiation. The key thing is the United States maintains significant leverage and it's also, I think, enshrined inside the the letter of theou.

[00:26:40]>> If the Iranians don't change their behavior, their military and their nuclear program is still destroyed. If they do change their behavior, then they are going to have a transformative relationship with the Middle East and the Middle East will have a transformative relationship with the people of Iran. That's a win for the American people and for the president of the United States.

[00:27:00]>> Concerns are mounting over the fate of the Iranian public as the conflict comes to an end. Every day, Iranians continue to suffer under this repressive regime.

[00:27:09]And human rights activists estimate more than 7,000 Iranians were killed during protests earlier this year, but warned the real number could actually be much higher than that. So, what if anything does the US Iran agreement do to address these human rights issues in Thran?

[00:27:24]Well, Saddaf Sur is an Iranian student at the University of Connecticut. She has family inside Iran. She joins us now. Um I think it's in um I want you to tell people why you feel compelled and inspired to speak out.

[00:27:40]>> Good to be with you Dana. So this memorandum of frankly misunderstanding really to me and millions of Iranian inside Iran and outside Iran feels like a betrayal because it looks like a uh return to a policy that we all had collectively thought President Trump had gotten rid of. I mean, every now and then the Washington seems to be convincing itself that there exists some less radicalized, some moderate, some pragmatist fractions within the Iranian regime that somehow America can uh can cut a deal with and empower and the inter internal power struggle uh within the regime and hope that because of financial incentives uh behavior change would be brought about. But time and again that has proven to be false. The only thing that happens is that the regime would get much wealthier. It would go after people much more heavy-handedly and uh the change that the Washington expects never really materializes. And one thing that really hits home for me is that the very same day that the president said that the people they are currently dealing with are much less radicalized, they executed two of the protesters. They have sentenced a a female singer for daring to be a woman. and sing in public to lashes. I mean, these are the very same people that in [clears throat] the beginning of the negotiations had told the their American counterparts that they have enough nuclear dust to build 12 bombs. These are the same people who uh have massive have turned Iran into a slaughterhouse for the last 37 years who have cut off the internet for three months. I I really don't know how any any more radicalized one can get. And these are the same people, by the way, which right now, as this peace talks seems to be finalizing, are boasting about they're going to avenge their march with a bomb by liberating Jerusalem. And we all know what that means. And I know the administration does not like uh the comparison and justosition between thisou and uh and JCPOA. But I must say the the reasoning that is being given to the American public is really uncanny to that of I don't know John Kerry for instance. We have we had John Kerry saying that the likes of Zarif are the moderate moderate people that we can deal with and right now currently that is uh for Vice President Alib uh whoever happens to be the first >> you said I believe you said to our producers that the people in Iran still have faith and trust in President Trump.

[00:30:10]>> That is the thing. I mean there is a reason why people uh were renaming the streets after President Trump. There's a reason why Iranian-Americans by and large Democratic voters were in favor of uh President Trump's political comeback because when in January 3rd 2020 he decided to ultimately move forward with the strike on Solmani and take him out, the Iranian people who blow this regime were the first to realize that the era of appeasement and just containment and just kicking the can down the road with Iran had ended. And then President Trump had in in [clears throat] the first administration and frankly up until thisou uh made it clear to the Iranian people that he he feels for them. He hears them. I mean you had him behind the presidential seal saying that uh your hour of freedom is at hand to the proud people of Iran. Your hour of freedom at hand for now lay low be sheltered uh but once you're done your government will be yours to take. And all of a sudden no mention of that. All of a sudden we have the vice president saying that if the Iranian people uh want to overthrow their government, uh it is between them and their government, which is a fair point, but really makes you uh appreciate the fact that the vice president was not uh was not amongst the French uh entourage.

[00:31:27]>> Right.

[00:31:29]Thank you so much for being here with us and I'm sure that as you talk to family members there uh that they're worried and concerned, but they also must be very proud of you. Thank you so much.

[00:31:38]We'll stay in touch. Thanks for having me.

[00:31:42]>> Fox News alert. New out of the Middle East this morning. Israel and Iranbacked Hezbollah have agreed to renew a ceasefire. We are watching to see if that holds. And this comes after Hezbollah violated a ceasefire and Israel fired back in force. This had been a major sticking point of the Iran deal signed earlier this week and we have our eye on it. Hello everyone. It's Friday. This is Outnumbered. I'm Kayie Mcadini here with my co-host Emily Kano.

[00:32:05]Also joining us, Laura Trump, host of My View with Laura Trump. Carly Shimiss, co-host of Fox and Friends First, and Joey Jones, co-host of The Big Weekend Show, and US Marine Corps EOD Tech.

[00:32:17]Well, the ceasefire appears to be holding for the moment, but a senior Israeli official tells Fox News, "We remain in the security zone, and if we are attacked, we will respond. We will thwart threats." The Wall Street Journal editorial board says Iran is already planning to use funds freed up by the deal to rearm their proxies, writing, quote, Reuters reports that Iran has already promised Hezbollah more funding once its cash flow increases. And that's true to form for the Iranian regime.

[00:32:46]President Trump though is declaring victory.

[00:32:49]>> What have you learned about not just the exercise of power, but the limits on your power as a result of the conflict?

[00:32:55]>> There are no limits. I haven't learned that lesson yet. I know there are, but you know there are no limits. We defeated them totally militarily >> and it certainly brought Iran to the table more than before. However, beginning of conflict, you had talked about you only wanted unconditional surrender and >> well theou doesn't look like unconditional surrender.

[00:33:16]>> Well, it really probably is unconditional surrender.

[00:33:19]>> Yes, >> I think so.

[00:33:22]You know, Laura, one key attribute that President Trump has on his side is Iran is devastated. I saw this headline, the economy is battered. It will take years to recover from the war. They desperately need the funds they seek.

[00:33:35]So, they're influenced to make a deal here. They're 100% influenced. And I think this was all strategic and the president deserves a lot of credit for this. You know, he will inevitably be criticized no matter what happens, right, Kaylee? This is the president who says, "I could cure cancer." And they would still find a problem with it. Um, and obviously there have been a lot of people trying to Monday morning quarterback thisou. What I will say is that peace is never easy. It is never clean. It is never perfect. If it was easy, other presidents would have done it. But I think this president deserves a lot of credit for what we're seeing happen. To your point, you know, Iran was essentially forced in a corner here and and the president played this in such a masterful way. I think it's been amazing to watch. the world is watching and at the end of the day the the things that he said had to be in there for him to sign an agreement with Iran he believes will be in there that is no nuclear weapons for Iran and that is the straight of Hormuz being reopened outside of that this is the beginning of 60 days of talks and we will see what it brings. Yeah, Joey. And another thing that the president has on his side is he had the courage back June of last year, so one year ago, to bomb Fordo to take action that his predecessors had not to set the nuclear program back.

[00:34:48]>> Yeah. We're in between the was it the 12-day war between Israel and Iran and then uh and then um uh Midnight Hammer.

[00:34:55]Uh so that this week, a year ago, um here's what I'll tell you. This is what I know from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm not saying the people in Iran or the regime in Iran is the exact same ideology, but it's pretty radical and it's pretty Islamic and it's pretty bad. They say, "You have the watch, we have the time." And so, whatever deal is made today, if it lasts 60 days or 60 years, uh, as long as that ideology exists in the Middle East, and as long as it has power in a place like Iran, it's going to be a threat. Uh, I don't think anything about this deal means we'll never have to fight Iran again. But if it does mean that uh, Iran doesn't get close to a nuclear weapon again, that's a win. And that's the win the that's the only consistent win outlined by this administration the entire time. You can't count opening the straight of Hormuz as a win. But it is something we had to try to make happen.

[00:35:43]Um you know if Iran had attacked all of its neighbors in Israel before Midnight Hammer or anything of that nature then where we sit today would be a a huge victory for the administration. But the political will of the American people to what they perceive to be start a war regardless if that's true or not. uh this administration and most people that have tracked it would argue Iran has continued the war. There was the start to it is Iran going after a nuclear weapon and the capability to maybe reach across the ocean. Um so if if we would have been responding to obvious aggression by Iran then everything that's happening right now I think most people would say hey this is a great place to be. I think a lot of the criticism comes from if you're going to go over there and start it if you're going to go stir the hornets nest as some of the analogy has been used kill every hornet. Well, you know what? If killing every hornet means putting a 100,000 US troops on the ground, how much will does this country have for that? None. Zero. And that's the that is the rock and the hard place the president was standing in when he made the decision to take action against Iran. The country has no political will for it. There's midterms coming up. All this, you know, money. I mean, we just spent a trillion dollars on our uh defense budget. If you throw in the big beautiful bill money last year, we're asking for 1.2 this year. There are a lot of political vulnerabilities when it comes to what's happened over the last month and a half. But if you get on the other side of it, I'm not even worried about midterms, but if you get on the other side of it and you truly have a weakened Iran that's not able to pursue a nuclear weapon, then I think you can claim victory. But we don't know that today. We might know it in 60 days. And honestly, I think the president's fully prepared for Iran not to stick to this deal. I think that's a a huge reality to this. And that's why you have the messaging side of the administration and then you have the tactic side and the strategic side of the administration.

[00:37:26]And those sometimes look a little bit different but it's for a purpose.

[00:37:29]>> And a key difference here when Obama was negotiating the JCPOA, he didn't have the entire US military, a big chunk of it sitting in the Middle East. He didn't have the the strikes and his background and the promise to resume them in the front end should they not sit down and negotiate. President Trump has said, "We will resume hostilities should you not come to the table."

[00:37:49]>> And certainly, unlike what the former president said, there are significant differences between that deal and this one. Here's what I'm looking forward to, and here's what I'm looking keeping my eye on. Uh, number one, the use by Iran of all of the Gulf ally investments into it. Will they be rebuilding their infrastructure? Will they be funneling and channeling the money toward their people who are still without internet by the way, who are still without air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter? Will we see an actual investment into the people? That will be a big change and that will also signify, I think, the public investment and the public will uh to actually improve the lives of their people rather than just simply survive of the the survival of the regime. Number two, I'm looking forward to a cohesiveness between the outerlying countries and their militaries. Right now, the biggest tendrils I saw from the JCPOA were essentially us funding terrorist activities and also by Iran, by the Islamic regime, a look the other way disdain for Hezbollah, but a no problem funding it. So, I want to see a convergence of those outerly countries where the governments have control over the militaries. there isn't back channel communication between Hezbollah and the other terrorist proxies to the militaries where you know they're notified before a skirmish so nothing ever happens like it needs to end is my point and I'm looking forward to that that will happen I'm also looking forward to the investment of those allies into the into Iran in terms of keeping them honest up until now with the JCPOA we didn't have very many allies that were in it with us whatsoever in fact we were alone in condemnation and Iran was certainly unfettered Now we have a lot of good friends and we have a lot of good friends that have invested in our country too and have investment in the economics and in the the safety and the the smooth mechanisms of the straight of Hormuz. So if Iran starts treating it like pirates, if they start acting out, if they start funneling that money toward uh horrific activities again or rebuilding any type of of nuclear intentions, there will be accountability. And that's the sustained piece. We know that we've had to mow the lawn for decades. We don't have necessarily an appetite for that. But I think if the globe is in it to win it in this way and we show them through that military might what happens when they deviate, that's the key to sustaining peace. And then one time or one day the regime will reflect a commitment to democracy and a convergence with western ideals which means freedom instead of stamping out their own people. Carly.

[00:40:21]>> Yeah. You know, I think the president has two different ways of dealing with adversaries. One is I'm going to bomb the heck out of you. And the other is playing the role of Mr. Nice Guy. And we saw a little bit of the Mr. Nice Guy uh routine at the G7 summit, but now there are all these reports that Iran has already said that they're going to increase funding to Hezbollah once their infusion of cash comes in. And there is a line in the memorandum that says that the United States is going to unfreeze frozen Iranian funds. So that infusion could be happening very soon, which is not good. So if this were a game of carrot and stick, we saw the stick with the bombing campaign, then President Trump offered a carrot, and now the question is, could we see the stick once again over this situation in Lebanon?

[00:41:01]And if you're wondering why Lebanon matters, it's because Iran is using Lebanon, or I should say, Hezbollah, to actively drive a wedge between the United States and Israel. And right now, our relationship with Israel is somewhat tense. I think that's short-term frustration. and cooler heads will prevail. We will always have Israel's back. When it comes to this situation overall and the deal overall, I hope that we use this 60 days to map out a scenario where we say, "Okay, if we do have to strike Iran again, how can we do it where they cannot shut down the straight of Hormuse?" Because that is their only leverage and if we take that away, then what happens? Something really big. Uh I don't think that the administration is getting enough credit for how crippled as you started this segment how crippled Iran has been and if that is their only leverage and we take that away and you know we're not just talking to the midterms we're talking two more years after that there's a lot that could happen here still no doubt >> Sander here with us now retired US Air Force Brigadier General John Tikkert. So Iran scraps the first day of negotiations because of Lebanon. I'm shocked.

[00:42:06]>> Yeah I don't think you're really shocked because I'm not. And it's an indication that on the day one of the postouou era that they're delaying that they're backsliding. They believe that they gained the initiative in this conflict the moment we started the first ceasefire 10 weeks ago and this is them just shaping the postou era to their favor.

[00:42:27]>> Right? I mean four IDF soldiers were killed to which Israel retaliated. There was some back and forth. Iran bailed in the negotiations. Israel and Hezbollah said okay let's cool it. Nothing from Iran. I mean, why would why would anybody expect that these guys are going to honor any commitments that they've made?

[00:42:46]>> No, they never have. And I shudder to think that now we're victimlaming Israel for responding against an existential threat that they've faced for decades.

[00:42:55]They're responding to hundreds of attacks against them just in the 10 weeks of the ceasefire. They're going to continue to do that and we should support their right of self-defense. All right. All right. Let's bring in retired four-star general Jack Keane, a Fox News senior strategic analyst. General Keane, great to have you back on the program here. So, what do you see happening next?

[00:43:16]Well, I think what we're really going to happen, we'll get past the ceasefire violation, I do believe. But I think for our audience to clearly understand, the ceasefire violations began right away when the when the peace agreement between Hezbollah and Israel took place over Lebanon on April the 17th. Over 2,000 drone and rocket attacks in the northern Israel, forcing the evacuation of those towns and villages. And and those people have been gone all that time. kids are not going to school. Israel can't stand for that. That's that's a violation of their sovereignty. Remember the objective that Iran and its proxies have with Israel is to destroy the state of Israel. And what they mean by that, they know they can't defeat Israel uh IDF cap military capability. But what they want to achieve is make the security situation so volatile that that small tribe of people 7 million Jews no longer want to raise their children and their grandchildren there because of the security threat. So what is happening in northern Israel with the evacuation of their homes with evacuation of their schools, evacuation of their workplaces is certainly a step in that direction.

[00:44:27]And that's why you get this zeal coming from Israel because it's there's a threat to their very existence. The major lesson learned out of October the 7th for the Israelis and this they will admit was a mistake that they made just as we made mistakes leading to 9/11.

[00:44:45]Their their mistake was they can no longer permit proxies on their borders to build capability to attack them and they let Hamas do it and that led to 1,200 people being killed, 255 hostages and we know the story very well. On the very next day, Hezbollah attacked them.

[00:45:05]So what they're trying to prevent right now during the ceasefire violation that Hezbollah is causing is make certain that that cap capability does not remain in southern Lebanon from which to attack them.

[00:45:18]>> Yeah.

[00:45:18]>> And [snorts] Israel cannot avoid that.

[00:45:21]They have to take this on. And I think the administration recognizes that. I would like to see them even publicly recognize the green light that uh Israel needs to have to be able to deal with this threat. Although we saw JD Vance at the uh podium yesterday in the White House briefing room chastising Israel to say, "Hey, you're complaining about Donald Trump. You know, he's the greatest friend that Israel has." Just want to point out that we're looking at the White House as well, General, because the president is going to be departing soon for a local trip. He's also going to Camp David this weekend.

[00:45:53]But can you disabuse us of any notion that we might have based on 47 years of history that Iran is looking for any excuse to either delay or derail this process?

[00:46:06]>> Oh yeah, absolutely. Listen, seven presidents before this president have all tried to accommodate Iran and to try to try to work with them as quote a normal country. Even Ronald Reagan after they blew up the US embassy in Lebanon and in Kuwait and the Marine barracks, he was still trying to work a deal with them to get hostages out which nearly brought down his administration.

[00:46:35]By the end of his administration, he recognized there's no dealing with them because they tried to shut down the the Straits of Amuse and he took down what was existed of their navy and their oil platforms. But everyone has tried this approach with Iran and it has not worked. Both intelligence service MSAD and CIA also have reservations about them ever agreeing to a deal here. So yes, are we going to try? Yes, we're in a major phase here of diplomacy, but I I think we have to be cleareyed about what is really happening here and recognize the leverage that Iran really believes they have. When they straight shut down the straits of Amuse, they believe they gained a geopolitical advantage and they're continue to use it. Any anything that happens here that doesn't go their way, they're going to say this the straits just closed down. That that's where they're coming from. They believe they have some some leverage here. And the facts do speak for themselves. I mean, we made a major decision to shift from military objectives to a priority for economic and also political objectives. And the advisers to the president landed the idea that given the oil prices and gas prices by the closure of the straits of Amuz coupled with the ability of Iran to retaliate against oil and gas infrastructure in the region militarily that that would lead to a world depression and that put us in a major diplomatic phase that we're in right now. And and the the reality is we got to see this phase through. My my own gut feeling for this is it's likely not to get a deal. We would all like to see a deal meeting all of the president's maximalist objectives.

[00:48:25]>> We're going to try to do that certainly and I think we're earnest about it. I think some of the negotiators uh because they're dealing with the people on the other side believe that they really want to do this and they and they may be willing to change their behavior. Most of us have been looking at this for most of my adult life have a different view of that. We don't think they're going to change their behavior. Uh the reality is they're operating in their own national interest based on their own ideology here. And that's the reality of what we're dealing with. But this one thing I do know >> is President Trump was the first president to confront this regime and he did it very powerfully in midnight midnight oper midnight hammer operation and obviously in full military operations here as well.

[00:49:07]>> But we're in a diplomatic phase. If this diplomatic phase doesn't work out, President Trump has two years left of his presidency, I guarantee you he is not going to turn over an Iranian mess to his successor, which was handed to him by President Biden. He will not do that. He will clean this up. And if that means full military operations to bring these guys down once and for all, that is what he will do. We're not in that phase, but we're in a diplomatic phase.

[00:49:36]And let's see what happens here in this phase.

[00:49:38]>> Yeah. And we could hear something from President Trump uh momentarily as we do look live at the South Portico there uh where he is about to um head out to JBA and route to Camp David. Uh so we'll be listening if he makes any remarks on his departure. Uh General Jack Keane, always appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.

[00:49:57]>> Thanks, General.

[00:49:59]>> Yeah, great talking to both of you.

[00:50:00]Thank >> Hey everyone, I'm Emily Kano. Catch me and my co-hosts Harris Falner and Kaylee Mcinenny on Outnumbered every weekday at 12 PM Eastern or set your DVR. Also, don't forget to subscribe to the Fox News YouTube page for daily highlights.